Saturday, 15 February 2014

Between storms... Last weekend I dropped into the Bomo SF convention, or SF Ball as it is known. Having been in Bournemouth for 7 years and missed them all, I thought I'd finally go and see what it was all about. And on the threshold, a familiar face - Liz Sourbut, who was at Milford in 2012. Great to see her again and chat about SF words. Speaking to her has also made me a bit more proactive - I've since booked tickets for Loncon.

So, there was other stuff going on too. Lots of people were dressed up of course (see below). I wasn't, but then again you could probably mistake my natural form for a Wookie's. I met Greedo (see picture above). He told me how he'd taken the gun pictured home with him for his kids to play with - a Star Wars nut as a kid, this would have been the best toy ever. However, one of Greedo's progeny bust the aforementioned and it was jettisoned into a garbage compactor, never to be seen again. Needless to say, the price tag for this weapon would now be somewhere in the region of £100,000 (apparently).

Doctor 8 and Ace

Paul McGann was also there as a Gallifreyan timelord, appearing on stage with one of the old Dr's assistants, Ace (Sophie Aldred). The last time I saw Paul McGann was in Bristol, when he narrowly missed crashing his antique Merc into my world weary Ford Focus in a Sainsbury's car park. He seemed on better form this time: there were some great Withnail anecdotes, including the extrication of a panicking Richard E Grant from a hedge, where he'd somehow ended up on the run from the police. I also caught Marina Sirtis' talk as well - her Eastenders accent a far cry from the dulcet tones of Betazoid Counsellor Deanna Troi. She showed us all her Tottenham tattoo. In the exhibition hall, some pretty cool artefacts were on display from The League of Bournemouth Steampunks - lending life and importance to the genre - they laugh in the face of those who say Steampunk no longer matters (it does).

So having finally made it to the SF Ball, it turns out to be the last one in Bournemouth. Ever. Typical. They are shifting next year's across Mordor (New Forest) to Lake Town (Southampton). I hope Smaug doesn't cause them any problems. But I guess he'll be dead by then, unless they decide to make a fourth Hobbit.

Data and Picard enjoy some replicated Guinness - just doesn't taste as good...